What's disappointed me most about RDM in 5.0

[Barraind]

I'm hoping that they're hiding some of the actual skill names, and instead of the AE being VerThunder[Cross], itll be Tornado / Gust / Quake, or one of those other things that's both an iconic FF spell and not the same name as a skill they already have.

[Nalien]

I'm hoping that they're hiding some of the actual skill names, and instead of the AE being VerThunder[Cross], itll be Tornado / Gust / Quake, or one of those other things that's both an iconic FF spell and not the same name as a skill they already have.

It was a really odd move to make the AoE spells Veraero and Verthunder... Verwater and Verblizzard would have made more sense, to just round off all the elements... Why repeat ones we already have at all? I expect the name will change by release (they almost certainly just forgot a II off the end of their current name, just like how Fire and Blizzard II are AoEs), but the animations are likely locked in now...

I mean, I agree with all of this. I'd personally rather they just remove the potency from displacement/corps-a-corps entirely and raise whatever spell potencies accordingly to compensate, but I think a lot of people probably like having a couple extra buttons to throw into RDM's already fairly simple rotation.

I'd definitely enjoy Red Mage getting more oGCDs, given how GCD heavy it currently is, but utility skills should be just that, for utility, not part of the rotation.

If Reprise was an oGCD rather than a GCD I'd probably be much more excited for it (although given it's designed to be a Lv76 version of Scathe (which is laughable in its own right) I guess it's forced to be a GCD), and personally I'd love to see them develop the whole "aetherial sword" aspect of Red Mage a bit more, both in more skills like that and a face lift for Contre Sixte/Fleche, since their current animation is incredibly lazy IMO, using a reskinned Serpent Officer's Longsword is just cheap... Certainly compared to the blade Paladin summons at the end of its showcase...

Honestly, the weakest aspect for Red Mage IMO has always been the swordplay. The main combo is fine, but that's about all there is... Reprise and Engagement would be nice additions to that, but so far their purpose just seems incredibly niche... We're not getting some awesome new skills to add to our current rotation, we're getting Scathe and a fix to a problem that shouldn't even exist...

[Katie_Kitty]

Who cares if BLM does more damage or if SMN deals more damage. .

People who like playing Red Mage but don't like gimping their own damage potential as a result. BLM can put out insane amounts of damage and every change that is being made to them for some time now has been geared toward making them easier to play and more powerful at the same time. Summoner looks like they may be going in the same direction but we won't know for sure what's up with them until we see the potencies. A perfectly-played RDM does a lot less damage than someone perfectly playing those two classes, there is no two ways about it, just look at the numbers. In shadowbringers, BLM got some changes that were clearly designed by people who enjoy the class and want to help other people enjoy it as well. RDM got no such thoughtful changes, in fact many of the additions just raise more questions than they answer if they aren't completely useless from the getgo (looking at you reprise - Unless there's something in that tooltip we don't know about for the enchanted version, it is completely useless for any skilled red mage). Then you add the fact that manashift is gone now and it feels like they just don't want us to bring anything to the table compared to summoner or black mage.

[Nalien]

(looking at you reprise - Unless there's something in that tooltip we don't know about for the enchanted version, it is completely useless for any skilled red mage).

You know, I've always kind of wanted Red Mage to have a reason to mess up its gauge... Lets be real, it's a very boring gauge... It's just too basic... The whole "You can mess up the balance" is a nice idea, but in practice it really should never happen, so in the end we just have the same boring gauge most Jobs have alongside something else....

Reprise could have been a nice way to add something in there though. Make it a DoT. Base Reprise is nothing. Enhanced Reprise (balanced) is a mid-potency DoT. Black/White Reprise (unbalanced gauge) is a high-potency DoT.

Red Mage finally gets DoT management, and that also works to do something new with the gauge. When it's time to reapply the DoT, you want to aim to have either too much White or too much Black. IDK, just a random thought. Doesn't even have to be a DoT TBH, that was just my first thought, just anything to have us play around with our gauge in a different way...

[Rongway]

Red Mage finally gets DoT management

No job "needs" a DoT just to have a DoT. We even just removed all the "has a DoT just to have a DoT" DoTs just this expansion.

[Dualblade]

It was a really odd move to make the AoE spells Veraero and Verthunder... Verwater and Verblizzard would have made more sense, to just round off all the elements... Why repeat ones we already have at all? I expect the name will change by release (they almost certainly just forgot a II off the end of their current name, just like how Fire and Blizzard II are AoEs), but the animations are likely locked in now...

To be fair Red Mages generally learned skills up to the -ara designation, which in this game would be (spell) II, so the AoE Veraero and Verthunder getting that designation makes sense while if we ever do get Verwater and Verblizzard they would probably still be single target attacks at (spell) I.

[Nalien]

No job "needs" a DoT just to have a DoT. We even just removed all the "has a DoT just to have a DoT" DoTs just this expansion.

Like I said...

Doesn't even have to be a DoT TBH, that was just my first thought, just anything to have us play around with our gauge in a different way...

DoT management was just the most obvious gimmick that came to mind.

[MaraD_]

The most obvious gimmick, that came to mind, to add to RDM. Was a self Haste/GCD reducer, to be a 2s GCD caster. (and cast times reduced to match)
You can call it fast cast if you want instead.

Either way, there's no reason for RDM to have the 2.5s GCD, and with its simple rotation, its the perfect playstyle for the caster.
(Side note, we still need a 2s GCD tank, and 2s GCD healer. DRK's blood weapon should be made to 2s GCD and made to be 100% uptime. SCH was the best fit for a 2s GCD healer back in 2.0, but now im thinking WHM, due to how simple they want to keep WHM)

[Nighthawky2010]

People need to chill with the speculation when we know so little. All this doom and gloom over nothing concrete.

Scatter spam was boring as it can get. If they make AoE more interesting I'm all for it. And as noted, a weaker melee finisher is better than not being able to use displacement at all.

After the media embargo gets lifted on the 29th we'll know a lot more on how this actually all works.

I agree. Once the Embargo is lifted then we will know for sure. I main RDM, I looking forward to all the content regarding RDM & other jobs on 5/29.

I enjoyed the Scatter Spam but the AOE VerThunder & VerAero looks dope.

I hope these AOEs give DOTS.

[Zyneste]

I agree. Once the Embargo is lifted then we will know for sure. I main RDM, I looking forward to all the content regarding RDM & other jobs on 5/29.

I enjoyed the Scatter Spam but the AOE VerThunder & VerAero looks dope.

I hope these AOEs give DOTS.

We actually have seen every RDM skill/change so far. It just comes down to: will SE make any last minute changes between media tour build and release? So the media tour information we are going to get will be exactly whats been leaked [the real leaks.] The AoEs do not give a DoT. There aren't any real additional effects except for magic damage up on manafiction.

Heres a Decent chunk.